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Plural Forms in German Posted by Transparent Language on Jun 14, 2009
The plural endings for masculine nouns can take on various endings in the plural form. (s) = singular. (p) = plural. (d) = definition. Some nouns end in -e : der Arm (s) = die Arme (p). (d) = arm/arms Some end in -en : der Junge (s) = die Jungen (p). (d) = boy/boys…
When to use Articles in German Posted by Transparent Language on Jun 11, 2009
German and English use the articles in similar ways, however there are some exceptions. Just because you see a noun doesn’t mean you should always attach an article in front of it. In German, it’s common to see articles used after a preposition (die Präposition) : in der Nacht (at night) With parts of the body : die…
O lieb, so lang du lieben kannst Posted by Transparent Language on Jun 8, 2009
Today will be a German literature and music post. O lieb, so lang du lieben kannst is a poem written by the German poet Ferdinand Freiligrath. The composer Franz Liszt was inspired by this poem. The famous Liebesträume (Dreams of Love) No. 3 is the result of reading Ferdinand’s poem. I have a Youtube video so that…
Neuter Nouns in German Posted by Transparent Language on May 18, 2009
Finally, we get to the neuter nouns. Look out for these endings, they just might be neuter: -chen : das Märchen (fairy tale) -um : das Zentrum (center) -lein : das Fräulein (Miss) -o : das Auto (car) -ment : das Instrument (instrument) -nis : das Versäumnis (neglect) -il : das Ventil (valve) -ma…
German Feminine Nouns Continued Posted by Transparent Language on May 15, 2009
This is part 2 of the feminine noun post. Sometimes, loan words that come from English are used in German. Take a look at some of these foreign word endings: -isse : die Hornisse (hornet) -ive : die Initiative (initiative) -ette : die Serviette (napkin) -ade : die Parade (parade) Now here are some groupings…
German Feminine Nouns Posted by Transparent Language on May 12, 2009
Of course the best way is to memorize the “die” as a part of the word. However, there may be cases where you just might not be sure. Here are some noun endings that may indicate that the noun is feminine. I just want to clarify that this isn’t 100% true in all cases, but…
German Masculine Nouns Posted by Transparent Language on May 9, 2009
Every German noun is either masculine, feminine, or neuter. It’s easy to figure out a German noun just by looking at it, because all German nouns are capitalized. Sometimes, it’s obvious as to whether a noun is feminine, masculine or neuter. Take for example, (der Vater) father. Other times there are no logical connections between…